Can a LIV Golf player win PGA Championship? Here’s our (sort of) expert opinion
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Which LIV golfers are in the field at the PGA Championship and how do we expect them to get on? You’re in the right place…
There will be no fewer than 16 LIV golfers at the PGA Championship as they join 140 more of the world’s finest at Quail Hollow for the 107th battle for the Wanamaker Trophy.
But we’re not just here to find out who they are, so over the next few scrolls of your thumb we’re going to also take a look at their form, their respective records in this tournament, and how we fancy their chances.
Before we get started, I’m not a betting expert – our resident tipster Tom Jacobs will be back on Monday and Tuesday with his full breakdown – and I’m certainly not here to tell you how to spend your money. I’m just here to present the facts and maybe we can have some fun along the way.
LIV golfers at the PGA Championship
So, in no particular order (except alphabetical), here they are…
Richard Bland
How he qualified: Won the 2024 Senior PGA Championship
PGA Championship record: MC
LIV Golf season form: T40-5-T30-T14-T47-T11-T7
Odds: 300/1
Verdict: Anyone whose form forges the phrase “Blandemonium” and gets us talking about a possible “Bland Slam” is alright with us. Will obviously miss the cut here, but will have a lot of fun doing it.
Dean Burmester
How he qualified: Finished in the top 15 of the 2024 PGA Championship
PGA Championship record: T59-MC-54-T12
LIV Golf season form: T4-T12-2-T29-T14-T26-T13
Odds: 150/1
Verdict: Gets in thanks to his T12 at Valhalla. Can’t shake the feeling that this PGA is either going to be other-worldly, with Rory McIlroy’s sixth or Jordan Spieth’s Grand Slam, or someone like Burmy will win by four.
John Catlin
How he qualified: Invited by the PGA of America
PGA Championship record: MC
LIV Golf season form: T44-54-T39
Odds: 500/1
Verdict: Catlin’s call-up was such a shock that even LIV Golf have barely acknowledged it.
Bryson DeChambeau
How he qualified: Top 50 in the world rankings and won the 2024 US Open
PGA Championship record: T33-MC-MC-T4-T38-T4-2
LIV Golf season form: T6-T18-T20-T10-5-T2-W
Odds: 12/1
Verdict: No jokes here. In terrific form, coming here off the back of a win, and has a T9 and 4th on his Quail Hollow record. Bryson is third favorite for a reason. Could – and perhaps will – be halfway to the Grand Slam come Sunday night.
Sergio Garcia
How he qualified: Invite from the PGA of America
PGA Championship record: 2-T34-MC-T10-MC-MC-T23-T3-DQ-T2-MC-MC-T12-MC-T61-T35-T54-MC-MC-MC-MC-MC-MC-MC
LIV Golf season form: T6-T18-W-T32-3-50-T42
Odds: 125/1
Verdict: Does anyone have a more bonkers PGA Championship record than this man? He almost took down Tiger Woods in his tournament debut thanks to that shot from under the tree, but in the quarter of a century since has way more letters than numbers on his record. Seven missed cuts in a row tells you all you need to know.
Tyrrell Hatton
How he qualified: Top 50 in the world rankings
PGA Championship record: T25-T10-MC-T10-T48-MC-T38-T13-T15-T63
LIV Golf season form: T6-T23-T20-T19-T33-T5-T13
Odds: 40/1
Verdict: Another player whose major record is nowhere near as good as his talent suggests. Missed the cut the last time the PGA was at Quail – but then he missed the cut in all four majors that year. Finished T3 in the Wells Fargo the year before he jumped ship for LIV, if you’re looking for something to use as a reason to back him.
Dustin Johnson
How he qualified: Invite from the PGA of America
PGA Championship record: T10-T5-MC-T48-T8-T7-MC-T13-T27-2-T2-MC-MC-T55-T43
LIV Golf season form: T44-T31-54-T5-T27-T7-T34
Odds: 100/1
Verdict: Told TG at the start of the year that he has more major wins in him, then finished DFL at the very next LIV Golf event before a missed cut at the Masters. Was probably annoyed when the PGA of America invited him to Quail Hollow…
Martin Kaymer
How he qualified: Won the 2010 PGA Championship
PGA Championship record: MC-T6-W-MC-MC-T33-MC-T12-T7-T42-MC-MC-MC-MC-T73
LIV Golf season form: T44-49-T10-T44-T29-T47-T45
Odds: 400/1
Verdict: Can’t shake the feeling that Kaymer rocks up at the PGA each year and people give him that “Lovely to see you, are you well?” greeting that you do when you bump into an old colleague on the street. “Right, must dash. Love to the family!”
Brooks Koepka
How he qualified: Won the 2018, 2019 and 2023 PGA Championships
PGA Championship record: T70-T15-T5-T4-T13-W-W-T29-T2-T55-W-T26
LIV Golf season form: T33-T7-T35-2-T18-T30-T17
Odds: 33/1
Verdict: Since becoming the first player to win a major while playing on LIV, Koepka’s results in the Big Four are as follows: T17-T64-T45-T26-T26-T43-MC. And yet it still wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprising if he hoists that giant trophy into the air for a fourth time on Sunday.
Tom McKibbin
How he qualified: PGA of America invite
PGA Championship record: Debut
LIV Golf season form: T15-T7-T6-T25-T14-T34-47
Odds: 200/1
Verdict: Four-and-a-half mill in the bank isn’t quite enough to prove that Rory McIlroy was wrong to try and talk his protégé out of joining LIV. Will be interesting to see how he copes with the major vibes. His only previous experiences have resulted in a T41 and T66. Or “meh”, as the kids say.
Phil Mickelson
How he qualified: Won the 2005 and 2021 PGA Championships
PGA Championship record: T6-3-MC-T8-T29-T34-T57-T9-2-T34-T23-T6-W-T16-T32-T7-73-T12-T19-T36-T72-2-T18-T33-MC-MC-T71-T71-W-T58-MC
LIV Golf season form: T23-3-T19-6-T22-50
Odds: 250/1
Verdict: Please don’t make me go back through Mickelson’s Quail Hollow record. He’s never won the Wells Fargo and missed the cut here in 2017 – surely that’s enough? We’ll always have ’21, though.
Joaquin Niemann
How he qualified: Invite from the PGA of America
PGA Championship record: MC-MC-T30-T23-MC-T39
LIV Golf season form: T33-W-T12-W-T33-W-T20
Odds: 30/1
Verdict: The world’s best golfer, the world’s 9th best golfer, or the world’s 85th best golfer, depending on who you want to believe. But the fact remains that Niemann has 23 attempts to win a major and has cracked the top 20 just once.
David Puig
How he qualified: Invite from the PGA of America
PGA Championship record: MC
LIV Golf season form: T6-4-T18-4-T14-T13-T20
Odds: 150/1
Verdict: Having a cracking season on LIV this season, but Puig’s major record to date involves a couple of mid-table finishes and a pair of missed cuts. Take your T35 at Quail and run, David.
Jon Rahm
How he qualified: Top 100 in the world rankings and won the 2023 Masters
PGA Championship record: T58-T4-MC-T13-T8-T48-T50-MC
LIV Golf season form: T2-6-T6-T5-T9-4-T7
Odds: 20/1
Verdict: Rahm’s Quail Hollow record includes a Wells Fargo missed cut and a T58 when the PGA was last here. But, guys, come on. This is Jon Rahm Rodriguez. We’re not writing him off just because he’s gone to LIV, are we? Does 19 straight top-10 finishes in a 54-player, three-round, no-cut event mean nothing to you people?!
Patrick Reed
How he qualified: Top 100 in the world rankings
PGA Championship record: T58-T30-T13-T2-MC-MC-T13-T17-T34-T18-T53
LIV Golf season form: T44-T37-T10-T25-T7-T17-T4
Odds: 75/1
Verdict: That feels like an awfully generous price for someone who is a) playing well on his domestic tour, b) off the back of a 3rd-place finish at the Masters, c) finished runner-up when the PGA was last at Quail Hollow, and d) has a couple of top-10s in the Wells Fargo back when he was a PGA Tour villain instead of a LIV Golf hero.
Cameron Smith
How he qualified: Won the 2022 Open Championship
PGA Championship record: T25-MC-T56-T64-T43-T59-T13-T9-T63
LIV Golf season form: T25-30-T20-T19-T9-T5-T7
Odds: 60/1
Verdict: Regardless of his LIV results, Smith’s major form has fallen off a cliff. Don’t expect that to change here. The Aussie has played Quail Hollow twice – once in the Wells Fargo Championship and last time the PGA was here in ’17 – and missed the cut both times. Shame, would have been fun seeing him attempt to neck a Wanamaker Trophy full of beer…
Final verdict
Oh Bryson DeChambeau is 100% my number one here. How could he not be?
And I really like Patrick Reed as an outsider.
Then it’s between Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm. In any of the other three majors, I’m taking the Spaniard all day long. But with his record in this tournament coupled with Koepka’s, this is a no-brainer.
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Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are two of the 16 LIV golfers at the PGA Championship.
